South Asia films to help Nepal quake survivors

South Asia films to help Nepal quake survivors

Documentaries about the harsh lives of slate-miners near Kathmandu, and the story behind the re-connection of an ancient Himalayan trade route will screen in Palmerston North to raise money for survivors of the devastating quake in Nepal, thanks to a Massey academic.

Dr Sita Venkateswar, an anthropologist in the School of People, Environment and Planning, was in the throes of negotiating for rights to the Travelling Southasia film festival to come to New Zealand for the second time when Nepal was struck by a severe earthquake on April 25. More than 8000 people died and nearly 18,000 were injured.

Travelling Southasia ‘14 is a package of films from Film Southasia, a Kathmandu-based organisation that convenes biannual competitive documentary film festivals in Kathmandu. The documentaries showing in Palmerston North include films submitted as competitive entries for the 2013 event in Kathmandu.

The six-strong film series, which was launched last Saturday, is sponsored by the School of People, Environment and Planning; Graduate Women Manawatū; and Palmerston North City Library.

“As the scale of the devastation became apparent, I thought we should respond,” Dr Venkateswar says. “I told [fellow] organisers that I intended to include a fundraising component with the film screenings and to suggest one or two films situated in Nepal that could be screened for that occasion.

“The two films nominated for the closing night fundraising event on August 1 highlight the cultural diversity of Nepal. Both are about areas that have been destroyed by the earthquake,” she says.

The first of the closing night fundraiser films is A Life with Slate, which is set in a mountain village east of Kathmandu and explores the endurance of Thami slate-miners as they separate slate slabs from the precipitous rock faces. Women work alongside men, carrying heavy loads down to the village and distant markets. The film emphasises how cooperation between the labouring families ultimately makes a tough life bearable, and depicts intimate scenes of the village life.

The other is titled The Way of the Road, and focuses on the road through Nepal’s Rasuwa District, which will reconnect an ancient Himalayan trade route with global traffic. The film looks through Tamang villagers’ eyes at the cultural and economic flows through this borderland, including a dramatic re-enactment of Tibetan and Nepali armies in conflict.

Dr Venkateswar says both filmmakers are keen to support the event and hope to participate via Skype in the discussion session after the film screenings. Nepali/Bhutani groups in Palmerston North have volunteered the food for the closing night, coordinated by Bikram Pandey, Cultural Advisor at Red Cross.

Other films coming up in the series feature Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Burma/Myanmar.

o No Fire Zone: Saturday, July 18thSri Lanka | 2013 | 93 mins | Directed by Callum Macrae

o No Burqas Behind Bars Wednesday, July 22ndAfghanistan | 2012 | 77 mins | Directed by Nima Sarvestani

o Miss Nikki and the Tiger Girls Saturday, July 25thBurma | 2012 | 75 mins | Directed by Juliet Lamont

The July 11 opening night film, Invoking Justice, highlighted the leadership role that Muslim women have taken in South India.

Dr Venkateswar says the key intent of the festival is to connect the University with key community organisations and people in the city and to “create forums where we can engage in dialogue towards building awareness and understanding of the global contexts that frame people’s lives and the cultural diversity in our midst”.

All films screen at 7pm at the Palmerston North City Library, with a gold coin donation entry.

Captions: Stills from the films (top) The Way of the Road, No Burqas Behind Bars, and Miss Nikki and the Tiger Girls, and Dr Sita Venkateswar.

ENDS

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